The decision to
remove red beacon lights is a joke. If it is serious, the government
must remove all A to Z category security, the BJD chief whip in Lok Sabha tweeted.

A day after the Modi government announced its decision to ban red beacon lights for VIP vehicles across the country, senior Biju Janata Dal MP Tathagata Sathpathy has slammed the move, calling it a "joke".

The BJD chief whip in Lok Sabha on Thursday tweeted, "The decision to remove red beacon lights is a joke. If it is serious, the government must remove all A to Z category security."

"Couldn't care less if all cars carry red beacon lights", wrote the MP. Sathpathy added that doing away with all categories of VIP and VVIP security will save taxpayers' money worth millions.

While the MP criticised the step, his party chief Naveen Patnaik was one of the first non-BJP chief ministers to order immediate implementation of the Centre's decision in Odisha.

In fact, while leaving the state Secretariat on Wednesday evening, Patnaik ensured that the red beacon light atop his official vehicle was removed soon after the Centre's announcement.